Ahmed Wali Karzai, brother of Afghan president Hamid Karzai, has gotten regular payments from the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency for eight years, according to a news report by the New York Times that cites current and former U.S. officials.
Ahmed, a suspected player in the Afghan opium trade, has helped recruit for a CIA-directed paramilitary force in operation around Kandahar, the report contends. Ahmed Karzai denies that he is in the drug trade and that he works for the CIA.
The Times said Ahmed Karzai's relationship with the CIA has created deep divisions within the Obama administration. Critics say the relationship undermines efforts to develop an independent Afghan government that would smooth a U.S. withdrawal.
